Plans have been submitted to create a waste storage and distribution facility at a site which was subject to a fly infestation affecting thousands of homes.

Worldwide Waste Management Ltd has drawn up proposals to use the former NIPA Laboratories site on Nook Lane in Oswaldtwistle for storage.

The site hit the headlines in the summer of 2012 after waste dumped there and was blamed for an outbreak of flies in the area.

Documents sent to Hyndburn council by the applicant said that it has not been bought for the use of storing, sorting and distributing upvc material.

Councillor Peter Britcliffe

Coun Peter Britcliffe, chairman of Oswaldtwistle Area Forum, said residents would want reassurances over the proposal.

He said: “We have bad memories of some of the rubbish that’s been stored there on the site which led of course to residents suffering from the flies epidemic in 2012.

"I will be looking into this very carefully and people will need to be reassured that whatever is happening at that site will not be to the detriment of the town.”

Mian Ali, director at the Manchester-based Worldwide Waste Management, said residents have ‘nothing to be worried about’.

He said: “We will only use it as a storage place as we have a factory in Manchester where we produce recycled material.

"We are not going to be using it for waste treatment or have a recycling plant or anything like that.”

Its design and access statement said they are a ‘well-established waste management company’, no loose materials will be stored on site and there will be no dangerous or hazardous substances or materials involved.

Following the 2012 incident, Arthur Morgan, 57, of The Foxwood, Charnock Richard, pleaded guilty to knowingly causing or permitting the illegal tipping of waste.

Blakeley’s Waste Management, based in Wigan, pleaded guilty to unauthorised deposits of controlled waste without a valid environmental permit.

Stephen Dennis Blakeley, former managing director, also pleaded guilty to being a director of a company which made unauthorised deposits of controlled waste with his consent.

They are all due to face sentence at Burnley Crown Court later this year.